



,.. % ''• 



REMARKS 



MADE n\ THE 



HON. T. H. PERKINS 



LAYING OF THE CORNER STONE 



THE BOSTON EXCHANGE 



AUGUST 3, 1841. 



BOSTON : 

PRINTED BY SAMUEL N. DICKINSON, NO. 52 WASHINGTON STREET. 

1 84 



f^3 
.8 



INTRODUCTION 



At a special meeting of the Directors of the Boston Exchange 
Company, held on tlie 2:3d July, 1841, it was voted that the Build- 
ing Committee be authorized to make such arrangements, as they 
may think proper, in reference to laying the Corner-stone of the 
building of the " Boston Exchange Company,'^ on State street, 
and to deposite a plate with suitable inscriptions. 

The following is a copy of a letter addressed to the Hon. Thomas 
H. Perkins, by the Building Committee. 

Sir : The undersigned being appointed by the Directors of the 
Boston Exchange Company, to superintend the building of the 
Exchange on State street, consider it appropriate that, as the edifice 
is intended for the accommodation of Merchants, the corner-stone 
of it should be laid by some one of their own profession. 

Convinced that it will be highly gratifying to their fellow-citizens 
that a gentleman should be selected for the purpose, who has long 
and honorably sustained the position of head of the mercantile 
community of Boston, the Committee request that you will do the 
Company the honor to perform this ceremony on Monday, the 2d 
day of August next, at 9 o'clock, A. M. 

A. E. Belknap, 

Samuel Henshaav, 

Thomas Lamb, ^ Buildhig Committee. 

Thaddeus Nichols, Jr. 

Isaac Livermore, 

To the Hon. Thomas H. Perkins. 
Boston, Jidy 27, 1841. 



Col. Perkins having given his consent to act upon the occasion, 
a large number of persons assembled to witness the ceremony. At 
the conclusion of the Address delivered by him, a silver plate, with 
an inscription engraved on it, was placed in a leaden box, together 
with one or more of each of the American coins now in circula- 
tion ; also, a " pine tree shilling," bearing date 1652, which was 
presented by Isaac P. Davis, Esq. In the box were also deposited 
copies of the Massachusetts Register, the Boston Directory, and 
the Boston Almanac for 1841 ; a list of the original subscribers to 
the Company, and a copy of each of the newspapers of the day. 

The box, having been carefully soldered and hermetically closed, 
was deposited in a cavity cut in the corner-stone or plinth, covered 
with marble, and secured with cement. The base of the ante, 
which is to form the northeast corner of the building, was then 
placed over it. 

The Directors, after the ceremonies were completed, met, and 
it was unanimously voted, that the thanks of the Directors of the 
Boston Exchange Company be presented to the Hon. Thomas H. 
Perkins, for his services this day rendered in laying the corner- 
stone of the Exchange, and that he be respectfully requested to 
furnish the Directors with a copy of the highly interesting remarks 
made by him on that occasion. The following is a copy of the 
answer of Col. Perkins. 



To THE Directors of the Boston Exchange Company : 

Gentlemen : I have received your letter expressing a desire 
that you should be furnished with a copy of the remarks made by 
me, at the laying of the corner-stone of the Exchange, now in the 
course of building. As I told you, I left my notes on my table at 
this place, from inadvertence, or I should probably have inflicted a 
longer talk upon you than I did. Enclosed are the reminiscences 
to which I alluded, or intended to allude. 



I am aware that in my remarks, I am obnoxious to the charge 
of egotism; but that grows out of the occasion. My remarks 
being made from memory, and having consulted no other record on 
the subject, it is very probable I may have misstated facts in some 
cases. If so, it was not intentional, and must be charged to the 
time which has elapsed, since the record was made on the tablet 
of my memory. Indeed, in the Atlas of Wednesday, lam charged 
with an error, as to the first ship that Capt. Scott commanded in 
the London trade, which the writer says was the Neptune, and 
which I have no doubt is correct. I have however some question as 
to whether the Minerva, the second ship commanded by Scott, was 
built in Neto York, as the writer says she was ; Boston, at that 
period, being much more of a ship-building place than New York. 
Still he may be correct. In putting down upon paper my recollec- 
tions, from my notes, they have grown upon me ; and I leave you at 
liberty to use the scissors freely upon them, or commit them to 
the flames, at your pleasure. 

As I have "set down nought in malice," I hope those whose eye 
they may meet, will not criticise them too severely. — I am, Gentle- 
men, with my v/ishes for the success of your undertaking. 
Your Obedient Servant, 

T. H. PERKINS. 

Brookline, Au^. 6th, 1841. 



THE FOLLOWING IS THE INSCEIPTION ON THE SILVER PLATE: 

BOSTON, MDCCCXLI. 

Ude lOotncr C7to7io o/ lAc cc/tM^ i/i^enaca ior an 
^ccnanae, anc/ Jor f/ie accoviiJtociafion o/ QJle^c/lanf<), 
etecfeJ /y de 'BmlUU Hxetfattge ©UTOpaitt^^ wa^ /au/ 
on me <)econd c^ay^ o/ iy€imtM^, in me year c/ oar ^L^za 

07ie motMana ef/jf/ii ■/ucnaiea ancl fozff/=one, ty 
THiiAi MAiilllfiE PliMij (^lezJane, 
S^/ie ^Otiton &xc/ianae ^o??2Jm7iu t^etng' ze/izet}e?itecl 6y- 

G>awaza S&tade, HDl-etl^. 
fy€ndzez<^ 0. 3&ef/C?ta/i>, 
<C/a9nuel c^^oMnaw, 

^riaac £L-cvet??ioze, y Building Committee, 

^/lac/c/eu^ ^/^tcno/ri, 7.r. 
'^'/ioma'ri .t^am^, 

ISAIAH ROGERS, Architect. 
^Jxn, Sr^CeV tc'wvcj. "^S^teM^cat o-f tfvc ^l(f)n.Lte^ cPtcttei c^f ©WetLcct. 
^odi^ ^au-LS, ^oi^elivo^ ol- tile ^omivvoaiueo-ufi/ ov ^iliscuiy^chclniieiib. 

MAY GOD PROSPER THE UNDERTAKING! 



REMINISCENCES 



Almost an odogenaire, and having lived in this 
street from infancy to manhood, I may be presumed 
to be famihar with what it was sixti/ years since. My 
mercantile education was in a counting-house in this 
street, on the site of the store of Mr. May, at the cor- 
ner of what is now Broad street ; and the residence 
of my parents was in the house owned by Mr. Tap- 
pan, opposite Kilby street. This location, therefore, 
being my play-ground, as well as my school-ground, 
circumstances made me more familiar with it, than 
with any other part of the town. 

The venerable building before us, at the head of 
the street, was then called the Toivn House ; afterwards 
the State House ; and since, until very lately, the City 
Hall. This building has undergone no change in its 
exterior dimensions, but in its appropriations, the 
changes have been great indeed. The lower floor, now 
occupied by the Post Office, was then without any parti- 
tions, except, I think, for two small offices, one of which 
was a notary's, and tlie other had some connexion with 



8 



the Legislature, which, at its annual session, met on 
the second story. The Senate Chamber was at the 
east end, and the House of Representatives at the 
west end, of the same floor. 

The lower floor, with the exceptions mentioned, 
was a promenade for those who chose to use it ; but 
it was more occupied by the little urchins of the day, 
in top-spinning and marble-playing, than by their 
seniors for any purpose. In these scenes, I well re- 
member to have taken a part there. The entrance to 
the first floor, was by a set of wide stone steps, flank- 
ed by a handsome wrought-iron balustrade. There 
was also a stone platform on a level with the entrance, 
and over it, a balcony leading out of the Senate Cham- 
ber. From this balcony, I first heard read to a great 
number of perons called together by the occasion, the 
Declaration of Independence. The then sheriflf, Joseph 
Henderson, read the Instrument, which was followed by 
the huzzas of the thousands present. This must have 
been in July 1776, soon after the Declaration by Con- 
gress ; and is as fresh in my mind as if it had happened 
yesterday. The cellar, under the lower floor, where the 
News Room and other offices now are, was occupied for 
fuel only, except at the northeast corner, where was the 
Watch House — in front of it, the Stocks ; and hard 
by, in the open street, the Wliipping Post, where, on 
Thursdays, the degrading punishment of whipping 
on the bare back, not only male, but female delinquents, 
was often publicly exhibited. The Pillory was also 



sometimes used in those days ; and when used, stood 
in the middle of this street, between Quaker lane, now 
Congress street, and Royal Exchange lane, now Ex- 
change street. Until after the British troops evac- 
uated the town, this street was called King street; 
but soon after the King's troops departed, it took 
the name it now bears, of State street. The Lion 
and the Unicorn, with some other emblems of royalty, 
used to figure where are now the scrolls on the front of 
the building. 

Sixty years ago, the street was of the same width 
as at present, but how changed in every other re- 
spect! At that period, it was paved quite across 
from house to house — there was no side-walk or 
trottoir in the street, nor, I beheve, in the town. 
A gutter, at about the same distance from the houses 
as the curb-stone is now, marked the bounds intended 
for pedestrians. Before some of the houses were 
flag-stones, placed there by the owners at their 
own expense ; but there was no continuous accom- 
modation of this sort. All the houses above Mer- 
chants' row on the north, and Kilby street on the 
south, were used as family dwellings, up to what was 
then called the Main street, now Washington street. 
Below those streets, with a few exceptions, were stores 
occupied by some of the most eminent merchants in 
the United States, Thomas Russell, John Coffin 
* Jones, and James Bowdoin, afterwards Lieut. Gov- 
ernor, occupied the three stores which still remain as 



10 



they were at that time, resembhng the " Last of the 
Mohegans.^'^ It is to be hoped they may soon be made 
more in keeping with the modern structures in the street. 
All the other buildings, then chiefly of wood, a few of 
brick, have either given place to new granite and brick 
edifices, or have been so changed in appearance by 
adding to, and beautifying them, that the builders 
would not know the work of their own hands. The 
most of them are rebuilt entirely. 

In 1780 there were four Insurance Offices in this 
street, and they were the only ones in the town. They 
were not incorporated. The earliest that I remem- 
ber, was kept by Edward Payne, in the next build- 
ing before you, now occupied by the Fire and 
Marine Insurance Office. He was the father of 
the late Mrs. Gore, (the wife of the lamented Gov. 
Gore,) and of our late townsman, William Payne. 
Mr. Payne (the father) was wounded whilst standing 
at his door, on the night of the 5th March, 1770, 
by a ball from the fire of Prestonh Regulars; in 
the affair, which, from the number of persons killed 
and wounded, was called the ^'■Bloody Massacre.'''' 
The front room was the Insurance Office ; the other 
parts of the house were occupied by his family. A 
second office was kept by Mr. Hurd, at the cor- 
ner of the building, now the New England Bank, 
then the " Bunch of Grapes " tavern. Hon. P. C. 
Brooks succeeded Col. Hurd, and N. P. Russell, Esq. 
was in the office as successor to Mr. Brooks, until the 



n 



incorporated offices were established. A third was 
kept by Moses Michael Hays, of facetious mem- 
ory, on the lower floor of a building, where the Boston 
Insurance Office now is, then occupied by a Mrs. Gray 
as a boarding-house. The Office was at the corner 
of the alley, then, by the sailors, called Damnation 
alley, but by others, Hickling's alley. It has since 
changed its name again, and is now known as Flagg 
alley, from being laid with flat stones. The fourth was 
next to Mr. Payne's, and kept by Mr. Edward Davis. 
It was the habit of those days, for merchants and 
retired capitaHsts to meet at these offices, to subscribe 
policies oflfered them by the office keeper. They 
were in the habit of taking from £50 to £100 lawful 
money, of six shillings in the dollar, or those who 
were very adventurous may have taken as much as 
£200. Business, politics, and gossip, were the order 
of the day at these meetings. 

When the incorporated offices were subsequently es- 
tablished, the directors, who were generally active mer- 
chants, with retired merchants who were stockholders, 
continued the habit of congregating in them ; not to 
subscribe policies, but to advise the President as to 
issuing them, and probably to do as their precursors 
had done, in other particulars* This habit may account 
for the long delay in building an Exchange, which is 
called for particularly, by the great increase of strangers 

* There are now twenty-four ofiices for insurance, with a capital of between 
six and seven millions of dollars. 



12 



who visit the city, as well as by the great amount of 
business now transacted, compared with that of sixty 
years since. From the plan and elevation of the 
building now exhibited to us, and a knowledge of the 
material of which it is to be built, we may venture to 
predict that it will do honor to all concerned in pro- 
moting its erection. 

The first bank incorporated in this town was the 
Massachusetts Bank, with a capital of £500,000 : it 
was not originally located in State street, but at the 
Factory, as it was called, now Hamilton place. The 
first President was James Bowdoin, who held the ofiice 
for two years, and was succeeded by William Phillips, 
whose son and grandson have filled the same office 
since. Samuel Osgood was the first cashier, but remain- 
ed in office only six months. Peter Roe Dalton, the 
second cashier, remained to exercise that office until 
1792, when he filled the same post in the Branch 
Bank of the United States, with much credit to himself 
and benefit to the bank, until the expiration of the 
first charter. The second bank incorporated was the 
Union Bank, now at the corner of the street opposite. 
The others followed at long intervals. There are at 
this time, I beheve, twenty-five banks in the city, with a 
capital of above seventeen milhons of dollars, nearly 
all located in this street. 

Since my recollection, th^re were four public houses 
in State street, where banks or insurance offices now 
stand. The oldest was the Admiral Vernon^ at the lower 



13 



corner of Mercliant's row ; the Bunch of Grapes was 
kept by Col. Marstoii, at the corner of Kilby street ; 
the Coffee House, by Deacon Jones, on the site now 
occupied by the Massachusetts Bank ; and the fourth, at 
the corner of Royal Exchange lane, was then called 
the Exchange, and was kept by Mr. Gray. My recol- 
lection of the last-mentioned tavern is the more vivid, 
from having been taken there when a child, to see the 
corpse of one of the persons killed at the massacre in 
1770. 

The first custom house established in Boston under 
this Government, was in the house adjoining your 
proposed Exchange. I think the lower part of the 
house was occupied as a boarding-house, kept by a 
person named Coburn. The Revolutionary Gen. 
Lincoln was the first Collector, appointed by Presi- 
dent Washington, and held the office until after the 
election of President Jeflferson, when he resigned. 
From its first location, the Custom House was removed 
to the chambers of Mrs. Gray's boarding-house, op- 
posite, before spoken of, where it remained until 
removed to its present location in Custom-house street. 
The next remove will be to the splendid granite 
building at the bottom of the street, which, when 
completed, will be second to no custom house in this, 
or any other country. 

The wharf, at the foot of the street, is now, and 
was sixty years since, appropriately called the Long 
Wharf. Of the time when it was erected, I am not 



14 



aware ; but, in my youth, I remember it as an old, and 
not a very good wharf. At my first recollection of it, 
during the war of the Revolution, it was in a dilapi- 
dated state, the water passing nearly over its lower 
end. It was then a cob-wharf, built on cross tim- 
bers, the tide ebbing and flowing under the stores ; 
and of course all the stores were without cellars. At a 
subsequent period, the water was boxed out, and the 
accommodation of cellars furnished to most of them. 
The stores were all of wood, mostly but two stories 
high. On the north side there was a passage, but for 
foot-passengers only, and that a very bad one. The 
wharf was httle more than one half its present width, 
nor was it so long as it now is. There were but 
tliree or four stores upon it below the projecting part, 
now owned by Messrs. Brimmer, formerly called 
Minors T, and still known as the T wharf, from having 
the form of that letter. Since that time it has greatly 
changed its appearance. 

The principal wharves, sixty years since, were, on 
the south side of the Long wharf, Rowe's wharf. 
Wheelwright's, now Foster's wharf, Fort-Hill wharf. 
Griffin's, now Liverpool wharf, (made historical from 
the fact that the tea ships, which were unloaded into 
the sea, lay there,) Gray's, since known by the name 
of Russell's, and now Russia wharf, Tileston's, and, 
the last on that side of the town. Hatch's wharf, 
near the entrance to Sea street. On the north side 
of the TiOng wharf, were Hancock's wharf, Ver- 



15 



non's, now Union wharf, and North Battery wharf, 
afterwards owned and occupied by the late Theo- 
dore Lyman. There were many short wharves, on 
either side of the Long wharf, used for landing 
fuel, in the form of wood, (no coal being then 
used but by blacksmiths,) lumber, salt, fish, &c. Ma- 
ny of the docks, belonging to these smaller wharves, 
have been filled up, and in their stead are erected whole 
streets of substantial brick and stone buildings. India 
wharf and Central wharf, on the south, and Com- 
mercial and Lewis' wharf, and the City wharf, all on- 
the north of Long wharf, with the extension of many 
wharves not named, and many new creations, now 
furnish better wharf accommodation than even the 
great emporium, New York, or any other city in the 
Union, can boast. 

In connexion with the commercial accommodation, I 
may be permitted to speak of the commerce of the town 
at that early day. During the war, foreign trade was 
very limited, and continued so for a considerable time 
after the peace of 1783. Soon after the war ceased, a 
line of packets was first established between this place 
and London. Capt. Scott, in the Minerva, commanded 
the first of them, and our late fellow-citizen, Capt. Tris- 
tram Barnard, commanded the other. Each made two 
trips a year, and generally brought news of fifty or sixty 
day's date ! Look at this, and compare it with the al- 
most daily arrivals from Europe, and the almost certain 
receipt of news, by the Cunard line, every twelve or 
fifteen days ! 



16 



The first ship that doubled the Cape of Good Hope, 
from this port, was built at Clark's ship yard, at the 
north part of the town, and was commanded by Capt. 
James Magee, the elder. The name of the ship I do 
not remember. I think she belonged, mainly, to Sears 
& Smith, who had removed to this town, after it was 
evacuated by the British troops. The senior of the 
firm went to China in her. He died at Canton, and 
his remains now rest at French Island, in the river of 
Canton. 

The first vessels which sailed round Cape Horn, from 
Boston, were the Columbia, Capt. Kendrick, and 
Washington, Capt. Gray, as a tender to the Columbia. 
They were fitted out by the late Mr. Joseph Barrell, 
and were owned in shares by him and Mr. Samuel 
Brown, Messrs. Hatch, Hopkins, Dr. Bulfinch, and 
others. Mr. Barrell and Mr. Brown had, I believe, the 
credit of the enterprise, to which they were probably 
incited, by the information gathered from the voyage 
of the celebrated navigator, Cook, who went from the 
Northwest coast of America to China, and carried down 
the information of the abundance of sea-otter on the 
coast, and of their great value in China. The voyage, 
from mis-management abroad, was not as profitable as 
the enterprise merited. Capt. Kendrick took the com- 
mand of the Washington at sea, and transferred Capt. 
Gray to the Columbia, who, whilst he commanded her, 
entered the river, to which he gave the name of his 
ship, doubtless the first vessel, larger than a canoe, that 



17 



had ever crossed the bar of that interesting river. 
Capt. Gray proceeded thence to Canton, where I saw 
him in 1789. What the trade from Boston has been, 
beyond either Cape, since that period, I need not refer to. 

Sixty years ago, this Peninsula, of which the Indian 
name was Shawmut, contained from six to eight hundred 
acres of land. Since that date, by encroachments upon 
the harbor, and by the acquisition of South and East 
Boston, the quantity of land in the City territory has 
become not less than eighteen hundred acres ; it being 
computed that the made land exceeds a fourth of the orig- 
inal quantity. At that time, the inhabitants of the town 
were between seventeen and eighteen thousand. They 
are now, by the recent census, more than five times 
that number, — and the addition to the wealth of the 
population I will not venture to compute, any more 
than the difference of tonnage that came to our wharves 
at that period and the present. 

One of the most interesting additions to the town, 
within sixty years, has been in the churches. There 
were then but sixteen places of public worship. 
Three were Episcopahan, twelve Congregationalist 
and Baptist, and there was one Quaker meeting 
house. This last was in Quaker lane, (now Congress 
street,) and was located where the granite shops 
now are, on the west side of the street. Of the above, 
the only buildings which remain as they were at 
that period are, the King's chapel, the North Episco- 
pal church, the church in Brattle street. Dr. Lothrop's 
3 



18 



at the North End, — perhaps one or two more. 
All the rest, except Croswell's in School street, (for- 
merly occupied by a Huguenot society,) and the Qua- 
ker meeting house, have been rebuilt on the foundations 
of the old buildings, and, with the new ones added, 
make the number of places of public worship within 
the city at this time, upwards of seventy. Mr. Cros- 
well's meeting house in School street, and that in 
Quaker lane, have disappeared. 

Sixty years since, the only road leading into the 
town was the ancient highway from Roxbury, by the 
isthmus, then called the Neck, now Washington street. 
On the Neck, from the present site of the South 
Bridge to the Boston line, more than a mile, there 
were but three, or at most, four houses. These were 
on the west side ; on the east there were none. From 
the site of the South Bridge to about the site of 
the Gasometer was a sea-wall, covered with flat 
stones, to keep off the sea, and protect pedestrians 
from a wet foot, in high tides. The Neck was paved 
in the centre only, and on each side of this pave- 
ment was left a summer road. During the May- 
oralty of Josiah Quincy, the whole avenue was 
paved, and now shows almost a continuous line of 
houses. There are parallel to it three wide streets, on 
land which was then marsh, if not flowed by the sea ; 
and there are seven bridges, and four rail roads, 
leading into the city, and two steamboat ferries. 
Charlcstown bridge, opened in 1786, was the first bridge 



19 



that was built, connecting the town with its neighbors. 
The Cambridge, or what was called the West Boston 
bridge, was the second ; the others followed at some 
distance. 

The principal schools, in the time spoken of, were 
Proctor's, afterwards Carter's school, on Pemberton's 
Hill ; Tileston's, in North School street ; Holbrook's, 
in West street ; Paine's, at the foot of what is now 
Morton place ; and the Latin school, in School street; 
the first master of which, that I knew, was Master 
Lovell, afterwards Naval Officer of this port, under 
the present government. There were others, doubt- 
less; but those were the most prominent. At this 
moment, the number of schools, and the accommoda- 
tion they afford, as well as all the accessories of learn- 
ing, are greatly increased, even in proportion to the 
number of scholars. 

I might speak of the time, when the Work House, 
the Alms House, and the Bridewell, (the last occa- 
sionally used for lunatics,) occupied the space between 
the houses of Mr. Sawyer at the head, and that of 
Mr. Dwight near the foot, of Park street. The Park 
Street Church occupies the location of the old Grain- 
ery. I might speak, too, of the period, within my 
recollection, when there was a Synall Pox Hospital at 
West Boston, the only public Hospital in or near 
the town, and compare that with the General Hospital, 
and other eleemosynary establishments, at this time : — 
of the gaol in Queen street, now Court street, com- 



20 



pared with the prison in Leveret street; the last 
a palace to the former ; — of the changes which have 
taken place in the cemeteries, at the period spoken of 
almost objects of disgust compared with the same burial 
places now, ornamented as they are, with iron railings, 
and decorated with trees and flowering shrubs ; — 
of the Common, which, not sixty years since, was 
surrounded by a wooden railing, and did not contain 
all the land it does now, a portion on tlie south having 
been added by purchase from the late Wm. Foster, 
Esq. The only Mall, at that time, was on Tremont 
street ; whereas it now extends round the whole space 
of about forty acres, and the old wooden rail has given 
place to an iron fence upon a granite foundation. 
It is but a few years, too, since cows were permitted to 
feed in the Common, to the great annoyance as well as 
danger, of women and children. The Horse Pond has 
been filled up, and is now covered with verdure ; and 
the Frog Pond, now called by boys the Quincy Lake, is 
walled about, and has become a pretty object of orna- 
ment, while it affords to them a fine piece of skating 
surface in winter. Sixty years since showed but tltree 
houses, which are now visible from the centre of the 
Common. Those are the Hancock House, the house 
at the bottom of the Mall on Tremont street, for- 
merly owned by Wm. Powell, and now belonging to 
the heirs of the late Wm. Foster, and the third, a wood- 
en building opposite the Burying Ground. 

To advert to other changes, I well remember the 
first exhibition of a theatre in this town, which was in 



21 



a hcirn, fitted up for the purpose, somewhere between 
1785 and 1790. It was located m Board alley, 
leading from Summer street to Milk street. Placide, 
Duvilliers, and Mallet, may yet live in the recollection 
of more than myself ; and others who were associated 
with them as the dramatis personce of the day. 

Hackney coaches were first established after the 
Peace. The first stand for them was at the head 
of State street, and the late Mr. John Ballard was, 
I beheve, the owner of the first of them. In 1784, 
there was a daily coach set up between this place and 
Providence, driven by a Mr. Baister. Starting at an 
early hour, you. arrived at Providence before night. 
Now the work of two hours ! The veteran Pease 
soon after set up the first stage-coach between this 
place and New York. At the end of the first day the 
coach reached Shrewsbury, where Mr. Pease kept a 
tavern ; the second day brought it to West Brook- 
field, or Palmer ; and on the third, it reached Spring- 
field by dinner-time. The mail between this and New- 
port was carried at that time on horse back in sad- 
dle bags as often as once a week, and the rider 
was something of a Quixotic looking personage, 
with a long drab coat, a cocked hat, and a wig. 
Whether he took up all the week in the journey, I 
do not know ; but that the mail was a weekly one 
I am pretty sure. Those modes of travelling com- 
pared with the present, are as a sloth to a meteor. 
The other day I tested this by travelling 160 miles, on the 
Western Rail Road, from Springfield to Chester, back 



22 



to Springfield, and thence to Boston, in ten hours, and 
dining on the way at Springfield. 

The accommodations for strangers in this city have 
improved as much as any thing, within a few years. 
The United States Hotel and Tremont House, aflford 
now more and better accommodation than did all 
the taverns and boarding houses of the town, taken 
together, at a date within my memory. The White 
Horse, the Black Horse, the Lamb Tavern, and 
the Ohver Cromwell, kept by Bracket, in School 
street, were the principal pubhc lodging houses, in 
my early day. The private boarding houses were 
many, and pretty good ; but furnishing not a twen- 
tieth part of the comfort to the wayfarer, which is 
found in those of the present day. 

And lastly, I may call to the recollection of some 
present, the great difference between the Fire Depart- 
ment, as it now exists, and as it was when administered 
by a Board of Fire Wards, who officiated at fires, in 
directing the operations of the engine men and the 
citizens. At that time, water for the engines was 
drawn from wells, and conveyed by fines of citizens, 
in leathern buckets. There were no reservoirs and 
little or no hose apparatus. When the weather 
was pleasant, there were plenty of operators, but 
at other times there was often a scarcity. There 
were voluntary clubs throughout the town, of thir- 
ty, or more, persons in each. The members were 
obhged, under a forfeiture, to keep two leathern buck- 
ets, in each of which they were bound to carry a bag. 



23 



made of light canvass ; and both the buckets and bag 
bore the name of the owner, and of the Fire Club to 
which he belonged. A bed screiv was required too, 
by the rules. Upon the cry of fire, the members were 
enjoined to repair to the spot, and to deliver the buck- 
ets for the general use ; they kept the bags, to be filled 
with valuables at their own discretion. If a member 
lived in the vicinity of the fire, he was first attended 
to. The badge of the Fire Wards was a heavy red 
pole, with a brass blaze at the end. They were cho- 
sen at town meeting to serve a year, and they had a right 
to enforce the labor of persons on the spot ; but sel- 
dom were obliged to exercise it. The engine men 
were generally mechanics, or truckmen, who re- 
ceived no pay, but were excused from officiating as 
jurymen, and were not liable to be called out on train- 
ing days. They were a gallant set of fellows, and did 
their duty manfully, though not always successfully, hav- 
ing to contend with wooden houses, and shingled roofs, 
sometimes a want of water, and sometimes of opera- 
tors. Under the present admirable arrangement, the 
advantages, in a variety of particulars, are incalculable, 
independently of the saving in property. Thanks to 
a City Government, that has caused the change ! 

I have omitted to speak of the market houses of 
former days. The Faneuil Hall lower floor was the 
only beef market. On what is now the vacant space, 
about that honored building, stood the stalls, where 
small meats, poultry, fish, and vegetables, were sold. 
There were other fish stalls in difierent parts of the 



24 



town, but I have no recollection of any other meat mar- 
ket. Butchers' carts traversed the town ; and such 
persons as had neither time nor inclination to go to 
market, were supplied at their own doors. That noble 
building, the Quincy Market, erected during the May- 
oralty of Hon. Josiah Quincy, now President of Har- 
vard University, is the best building that I have ever 
seen, either in Europe or this country, occupied as a 
market. 

It may be added that sixty years since, the town was 
principally of wood. Now, almost all the dwelling 
houses are of brick or stone. Many of the streets 
were unpaved at that time, and none had regular side- 
walks. They are now all paved, and have convenient 
side-walks, of either brick or flat stone. The edifices 
of a public character, at the close of the war, bore no 
comparison with those now in use ; and the private 
dwellings of the present day are at least equal to 
those of any city in the United States. The poor, too, 
are better taken care of now, than sixty years since, 
and constant eftbrts are making to better their con- 
dition. 

It is pleasant to have seen such changes as have 
tak^n place, to us who have witnessed them ; and per- 
haps no less pleasant to the younger portion of the 
community, to hear from their seniors, of the improve- 
ment which has constandy followed change. 

May the kind Providence which has thus far watch- 
ed over us, in times of adversity and prosperity, 
continue to smile upon our native city ! 



H107 78 5491 



